Reading Order

There is more than one DC Comics superhero named Hawkman. Created by writer Gardner Fox–who was apparently inspired by the sight of a bird while trying to come up with new superheroes–and Dennis Neville in Flash Comics #1 (January 1940) during the Golden Age of comic books, the first of the several incarnations of Hawkman was Carter Hall, a reincarnation of the ancient Egyptian prince Khufu.

Hall had discovered the “ninth metal” (aka “Nth metal”) that allow him to fly by negating the effects of gravity. He put on a costume and started to fight crime. He soon became a founding member of the Justice Society of America–and even became the chairman of the team. Also at that time, he started romancing Shiera Saunders, the reincarnated bride of Khufu, who became known as Hawkgirl.

Like most of the superheroes of the Golden Age, Hawkman disappeared for a while during the 1950s and was reinvented for the Silver Age under the guidance of famed DC editor Julius Schwartz. Revived in The Brave and the Bold # 34 (Feb–Mar 1961), his powers were quite similar but Hawkman was this time a police officer from the planet Thanagar–not a human anymore! Named Katar Hol he came to Earth with his wife Shayera in search of a criminal and stayed–the couple adopted secret identities, becoming Carter and Shiera Hall who worked at a museum in Midway City.

This time again, he joined the main DC Team, the Justice League of America, and met the original Hawkman during crossovers with the JSA from Earth-Two.

Like the rest of the DC Universe, the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths changed a lot for Hawkman and Hawkwoman. Everything became quite confusing until the 1989 Hawkworld series rebooted the Hawkman story. This time, Katar Hol and his partner Shayera were sent to Earth after rebelling against the Thanagarian government whose policy was predatory against other worlds.

Their arrival on Earth forced a retcon of the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl, as they were still alive and well. It was then revealed that the Nth metal was in reality from Thanagar. Also, we learned that it was really Fel Andar, a Thanagarian agent, who was the 1980s Hawkman who previously joined the JLA in order to spy on the heroes. All these corrections didn’t simplify the Hawk mythology as new events added complications to the point that DC decided to put the Hawks aside for a while.

It was in the 1990s, in the JSA series, that the continuity was revised. We then learned that Carter Hall and Shiera who got their powers from Thanagarian Nth metal had been reincarnated multiple times since ancient Egypt. Katar Hol come to Earth during the 1990s and Fel Andar returned to Thanagar. The reincarnation angle was used to launch a new Hawkman series in 2002.

All of this is the simple version, things were even more complicated in the books…

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When Superboy met three teenagers and members of the Legion of Super-Heroes for the first time in Adventures Comics #247 (April 1958), he couldn’t predict how popular this young team was destined to become. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino for a one-off story, the Legion is a team of young superheroes teenagers coming from the 30th Century and 31st Century.

They proved so popular that they made a return once, twice… and many more times. The Legion obtained its own regular feature in Adventure Comics #300 and had to share the spotlight for several years with Superboy until they finally had their own title in the seventies.

Next to Uncanny X-Men and New Teen Titans, the Legion of Super-Heroes became one of the biggest-selling books of the eighties, when Paul Levitz served as a writer – who would become the writer the most associated with the Legion. Already an artist attached to the Legion, Keith Giffen took over for a dark run with some confusing continuity elements.

In order to reconnect with a lighter and more simple Legion, the title was rebooted for the first time in 1994. Mark Waid, Tom McCraw, and Stuart Immonen introduced readers to a new continuity with a new Legion of Super-Heroes team.

Ten years later, sales were failing and despite good reviews, the franchise was once again rebooted by Mark Waid and Barry Kitson to give us Legion of Super-Heroes Three, another original team.

At this point, we have three incarnations of the Legion. In general, when a new Legion was introduced, the previous team was erased from existence, as each team occupy the same place in history. It was supposed that each team represented a different possible future for DC.

Writer Geoff Johns changed that idea in 2008 with Final Crisis, where it was revealed that they all come from different worlds but they all interact with the main Earth’s history. That way, all the Legions teams can co-exist. The pre-Crisis team was restored in continuity for the occasion. Finally, a new version of the team from Brian Michael Bendis was introduced in 2019.

The Legion formed a beloved team, no doubt about that. A team with a complicated history. To explore that past full of stories of all sorts, from goofy to dark and serious, from soap opera to high sci-fi, and more, check out our reading order!

Read More »Legion of Super-Heroes Reading Order, the team from the future

Officially created by Charles Nicholas Wojtkoski in 1939 (working for the Eisner and Iger shop), Blue Beetle is a superhero that started his career at Fox Comics. Charlton Comics acquired FOX Comics and, ultimately, was itself bought by DC Comics. That’s how Blue Beetle joined the Justice League. In truth, the original Blue Beetle was not the same as the one that became friends with Booster Gold.

Everything began with Dan Garret, the original Golden Age Blue Beetle. Introduced in Mystery Men Comics #1 (August 1939), Dan was a Rookie patrolman and the son of a police officer killed by a criminal. He simply became a vigilante, without powers, who wore a bulletproof blue costume–looking a lot like the Phantom. At some point, he temporarily gained power with the help of a special vitamin. He even got a sidekick named Sparky. Also, during World War II, Garret became a government agent–a got his cop uniform back after the war ended. As time went by, he gained even more powers, but that didn’t save him from Fox Comics going out of business.

Charlton Comics reprinted some Blue Beetle stories for a time and, during the Silver Age of comics, launched a new series–in 1964, written by Joe Gill. This time, Dan Garrett (with two “t”) was an archaeologist who discovered a mystical scarab during a dig in Egypt. This artifact gave him superpowers. Like Shazam, he only needed to say the word (“Kaji Dha!” in his case) to transform into the Blue Beetle. This Dan Garrett only got two years on the newsstand before getting replaced.

Introduced by Gary Friedrich and Steve Ditko in a backup story in Captain Atom #83 (November 1966), Ted Kord was a genius-level inventor and a gifted athlete without superpowers who operated out of his airship, “the Bug”. When he died, Garrett passed the torch to Ted–years later, DC Comics retconned his origins by adding that Ted was a former student of Dan Garrett. The series was canceled shortly after its launch.

When Charlton Comics went out of business in the early ’80s, AC Comics bought the right to the character, among others, did some stories, then the rights reverted back to Charlton and DC Comics purchased them.

Using the Crisis on Infinite Earths event, DC introduced Charlton’s characters into its own universe. After the Crisis ended, Len Wein wrote a new Blue Beetle series after penning Secret Origins Vol. 2 #2 in which he rewrote Ted Knight’s origins. After 24 issues, the series was canceled, but Blue Beetle joined the Justice League not too long after and found a new life. Ted became Booster Gold’s best friend, a relationship that defined the hero as a proper character in the DC Universe.

In 2006, DC Comics decided to retcon and expand upon the Blue Beetle mythos with the help of Jaime Reyes. Introduced in Infinite Crisis #3 (February 2006), he really became the new Blue Beetle in Infinite Crisis #5. Created by Keith Giffen, John Rogers, and Cully Hamner, Jaime bonds with the scarab, and it is revealed that it is an artifact alien in origin. Soon, Jaime became friends with Booster, and joined the Teen Titans and even the Justice League.

Read More »Blue Beetle Reading Order (Ted Kord and Jaime Reyes)

Now one of the stars of the DC Extended Universe where he is played by Jason Momoa, Aquaman was often overshadowed or overlooked in the past. Yet, Aquaman is one of the major and more enduring heroes of DC, having made his debut in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941, one month after Wonder Woman‘s first appearance.

Created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger, the Golden Age Aquaman was quite different from the hero we know today. First, this version of the character – known today as the Aquaman of Earth-2 – was not a true denizen of Atlantis. He was the human son of a scientist and undersea explorer who discovered the ancient city of Atlantis and dedicated his life to discovering all its secrets. As he built himself a house here, he taught his son how to survive and breathe underwater and how to use all the power of the sea to make him strong and swift. and he was erased from existence with Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Though revised a few times since then, Aquaman’s origin story was updated to make him Arthur Curry, half Atlantean, half-human, and undersea royalty. Throughout the years since his debut and his gained popularity from his 1960s animated appearances, DC worked at making Aquaman more powerful and edgier, but failed to give him a more defined role and purpose, not knowing really what to do with the character in the (very) long run.

If Aquaman was more of a joke for some people, the character had lived some great, strange, colorful, and exciting adventures, gaining a devoted fanbase, and more recently more respect as one of the top-tier DC superheroes. Long live the King!

Read More »Aquaman Reading Order, the King of Atlantis